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The two business owners are at odds over the growing number of outdoor dining platforms in downtown Birmingham – and the criteria used to approve them. The issue could come to a head Monday when the City Commission reviews a platform request for two new restaurants.

Birmingham has 839 metered parking spaces in the downtown. City Planner Matt Baka said 11 platforms approved for 2015 will take up 14 of those spaces. Restaurateurs like Sklar say the platforms are a necessary ingredient for the outdoor dining season, while retailers like Astrein worry about the number of parking spaces they chew up.

"I don't know of any diner who would be successful without outdoor dining – because it's that important to Birmingham," Sklar said during a discussion about the platforms at the April 27 commission meeting. "That's why everyone has their platforms up the day they're allowed to, because that's where they make their money."

Astrein, whose family-owned jewelry store has been in Birmingham for 41 years, noted one metered parking space can have a turnover of $35,000 in sales in a single day from customers shopping in the downtown. That's a lot of business for the local merchants.

"These parking spots on the street are the lifeblood of an establishment, and if you were in retail you'd understand it," Astrein told the commission a week earlier, during a discussion on platforms at the April 13 meeting. "It's almost like a special privilege to the restaurants."

On Monday, the commission will consider Sklar's platform request to accommodate two new restaurants he's preparing to open inside the remodeled Palladium Building at 202 N. Old Woodward. One is a French restaurant called Au Cochon, the other an Italian diner called Arthur Avenue.

Sklar, who owns and operates Social Kitchen & Bar at 225 E. Maple, wants a 20-seat deck along North Old Woodward that will take up two parking spaces and service both of the new restaurants. In addition, he wants eight seats on the sidewalk next to the building.

When his request first came before the city on April 27, several commission members said they were leery about adding a platform at that location. The matter was tabled to Monday.

Commissioner Mark Nickita noted the sidewalks around the Palladium are wide enough for outdoor seating without having to add a platform. A second reason is loss of additional on-street parking spaces: the platform, if approved, would take up two parking spaces on North Old Woodward.

At the April 13 meeting, the commission approved a platform for Toast Birmingham at 203 Pierce Street that will also take up two parking spaces and provide Toast with 28 extra outdoor seats – on top of the 24 seats the restaurant already has on the sidewalk.

In making his appeal for the extra seating, Toast owner Thom Bloom noted how the Townhouse Bistro directly across the street from his establishment has the ability to put 54 seats on the sidewalks.

"If you're worried about two parking spots, there's a lot of ways to solve it other than restricting outdoor dining," Bloom said at the meeting.

Commissioner George Dilgard voted no on the plan, which passed 5-2.

"My feeling is, if you have room on the sidewalk for seating, that's the first option," Dilgard said at the meeting. "Toast initially wanted 26 outdoor seats ... they now have 24 without a platform."

Astrein makes the same argument, saying there's no clear-cut criteria for how the city approves the platforms. He noted the platforms were supposed to provide seating for restaurants that didn't have space in front of their building for sidewalk seating.

"It's not that I'm against the platforms," he said at the April 13 meeting. "I like the platforms ... but we've reached a tipping point."

Hometown Life reporter Jay Grossman can be reached at jgrossman@hometownlife.com or 586-826-7030.